One of the Yale men was close upon Lefty’s heels, shouting to him for dear life to either turn and run toward the right goal or pass him the hall, but the nervous, overanxious boy was deaf to everything.
Back in the stands, both the Yale and Harvard rooters were wild with excitement, with the New Haven side roaring instructions to Lefty and offering a prayer for aid from a Divine Providence.
To the boy, running clear across the field, the cries of the Yale rooters were received as shouts of victory, egging him on to finish the game for the glory of Old Eli.
With grim determination, the boy put more effort behind his race for victory, completely oblivious to the calls of his fellow players and the pleas of those in the stands.
The words of the coach, “Touchdown, Touchdown,” still filled Lefty’s ears, keeping his brain and feet active and his eyes blind to all else but the goal line just ahead of him.
Just one yard from the goal line now, Lefty’s team mate, determined to stop him at all costs, made a flying tackle at the nervous boy’s heels, bringing Lefty down to the ground.
Unaware that the tackle was made by his own team mate, and still blind to the fact that he was on the verge of making a victory for Harvard, thus defeating his own college, Lefty, with every bit of strength he possessed, squirmed and struggled from the tightening grasp of his fellow player, triumphantly placing the ball just over the line as the referee’s whistle ended the game.
Lefty rose with a triumphant smile of victory beaming upon his face, yet, not quite understanding why the Harvard men should be shouting hilariously, throwing their helmets in the air and slapping each other on the back.
He walked over to where his team mates stood in a group silently with the brand of defeat plainly visible upon the faces of each man. “Well, I made it!” he announced jovially. “You made it, all right,” one of the men answered, eyeing the boy with a look of disgust. “You ran the wrong way and won the game for Harvard!”
“Take a look at the score board, two for Harvard, nothing for Yale, and you gave them the two!” said another.